cover image Rush-Hour Recipes: More than 230 Quick-to-Fix Dinner Recipes Your Family Will Love%E2%80%A6Even Slow-Cooker Meals and Potluck Dishes!

Rush-Hour Recipes: More than 230 Quick-to-Fix Dinner Recipes Your Family Will Love%E2%80%A6Even Slow-Cooker Meals and Potluck Dishes!

Vickie Hutchins and JoAnn Martin. Gooseberry Patch (NBN, dist.), $16.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-61281-030-0

The latest crowd-sourced salvo from the folks at Gooseberry Patch (101 Hearty Recipes) focuses on meals that can be prepped in minutes. Armed with a trusty can opener, a sharp knife, and little else, harried cooks will be able to whip up Cheesy Black Bean Soup, Best-Ever Shredded Beef Tacos, and a Quick & Easy Italian Slaw in no time. Expected fare like meatballs, chili, stuffed peppers, and %E2%80%9CFoolproof Potato Soup%E2%80%9D dominates. Diversions from classics range from the serviceable (chicken breaded with crushed pretzels) to the terrifying: cream of mushroom soup is employed with abandon%E2%80%94incorporated into everything from Spaghetti Amore to Chicken Corn Chowder%E2%80%94and Lemonade Chicken is an unholy union of chicken thighs, a can of frozen lemonade concentrate, brown sugar, catsup, and balsamic vinegar. Hutchins and Martin have clearly found their niche, so those already familiar with the brand will likely find a lot to like here. Those watching their caloric and/or salt intake%E2%80%94there%E2%80%99s a lot of bouillon and processed cheese in these recipes%E2%80%94as well as those with an aversion to overly processed foods like Velveeta and bottled salad dressing, will likely want to give this one wide berth. (Jan.)